With less than 24-hours to go until the official start of Spring Training, the Tampa Bay Rays were busy in Port Charlotte.
Senior Vice Presidents of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom and Erik Neander, and Rays skipper Kevin Cash held a pre-spring media session (seen below), answering questions about their off-season moves, and the most notable spring competitions among others. Bulleted highlights follow.
— Cash made it crystal clear, he feels the front office did enough to get back in the playoffs for the first time since 2013:
We expect to be playing games in October. That’s the goal. We’re confident with what we’ve done this off-season. We’re confident with the core guys we had finishing the year. … We’re optimistic with our pitchers, with our position core. These guys are coming in, you’re going to see, just talking to them this off-season, there’s a lot of guys in that clubhouse that take a lot of pride in not only their personal performances but the performance of the team.
— No decisions have been made on second base. They will give Brad Miller, Tim Beckham, Nick Franklin and Daniel Robertson looks over the next seven weeks.
— Cash was hesitant to label either Chris Archer or Alex Cobb as the ace of the starting rotation this early on, although he did say it is obvious a healthy Cobb is crucial to the team.
— Bloom said Matt Duffy (heel surgery) should be good to go. Steven Souza Jr. (hip), Logan Morrison (wrist), and Colby Rasmus (hip, core muscle) should be ready by Opening Day or soon after. Wilson Ramos (knee) will be ready at a later date; May at the earliest for DH duties. The Rays will play things conservatively with Ramos, taking a wait and see approach:
We’re going to learn as he goes along.We’ve talked about it before, we don’t know exactly when (he’ll return). We know he’s got very high expectations for when he’ll be able to make it back, and that’s great. He has worked his tail off trying to get back on the field, and he’s very motivated. He really wants to make an impact. So we’re not going to hold him back. We just don’t want to do anything to jeopardize his health.
— Non-roster INF/OF Rickie Weeks is being counted on to be a “pretty big bat” vs. left handed pitching.
In other Spring Training news, 39 of 41 pitchers and catchers arrived in Port Charlotte on Monday. Absent were Jake Odorizzi, who attended his arbitration hearing in St. Petersburg, and Wilson Ramos, who should arrive in a couple days.
Per Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times), several more position players have also arrived, including new OF Mallex Smith, infield prospects Daniel Robertson and Casey Gillaspie, and OF Corey Dickerson, who had been working out at the Trop.
Incidentally, Jake Faria — who was called out by Chris Archer at the start of last year’s camp for not arriving early enough — told Topkin he made sure to be at the park well ahead of schedule:
I pulled up before the clubbies were here and had to leave because the doors were locked so I went to get some breakfast.
Noteworthiness
— Scheduled to throw Tuesday are Alex Cobb, Jake Odorizzi, Blake Snell, and Xavier Cedeno.
— According to MLB Network’s latest ranking based on defensive and offensive metrics and projections, Kevin Kiermaier rated only ninth out of 10 major league centerfielders.
- Mike Trout, Angels
- Christian Yelich, Marlins
- George Springer, Astros
- Jackie Bradley Jr., Red Sox
- A.J. Pollock, Diamondbacks
- Adam Eaton, Nationals
- Lorenzo Cain, Royals
- Charlie Blackmon, Rockies
- Kevin Kiermaier, Rays
- Dexter Fowler, Cardinals
As for catchers, Wilson Ramos was ranked fourth best.
- Buster Posey, Giants
- Jonathan Lucroy, Rangers
- Yasmani Grandal, Dodgers
- Wilson Ramos, Rays
- Russell Martin, Blue Jays
- Yadier Molina, Cardinals
- Francisco Cervelli, Pirates
- J.T. Realmuto, Marlins
- Salvador Perez, Royals
- Welington Castillo, Orioles